


Sunshine State of Mind

by haylin42



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Feelings, Guilt, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 23:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4411646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haylin42/pseuds/haylin42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He didn’t even have to turn around; he could feel the shit-eating grin the setter standing behind him was wearing, like another ray cast by the godforsaken sun, scorching his skin and bringing forth a fresh wave of irritation. Hajime counted to five, took deep breaths, and closed his eyes, trying to quell the headache that was just getting worse and worse. <i>You just cleaned, do not get more blood on that ground. No blood. Do not.</i></p>
<p> <i>(In which Iwaizumi is a lifeguard and Oikawa pays him a visit at work.)</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunshine State of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> 'Sup, kiddos! Here begins my foray into published fanfic, and honestly I'm super pumped. (Of course it was iwaoi. Of course.) I enjoyed writing this a ton so you guys should tell me what you think! I've been wanting to write about lifeguards for a while now, and after guarding for almost the entire summer I figured it was time to do it, The Realistic Lifeguard AU. I pulled a lot of stuff in here from actual experiences I've had at work. (Props to those who can guess which ones.) I tried to be as gentle as possible, but TW just in case for injury - nothing graphic. Additionally I kept Japanese speaking norms in terms of honorifics/referring to people by last name, but the pool and circumstances around it (lake trips, etc.) were influenced a lot by experiences from where I live. So...set in Japan with cultural influences from America, because I have no idea how big wakeboarding is in Asia. Oops. Title stolen from a We The Kings album because it was fitting and cute. Enjoy!

The sun beat down on Iwaizumi Hajime’s throbbing forehead as he sat up, wiped the sweat off his brow for the hundredth time that afternoon, and then knelt down again to resume wiping blood off the deck. Two hours, and his shift was barely a third of the way over — already a kid had scraped his chin on the diving board, another had hit her brother with a frisbee, and a patron had been run over. By a golf cart.

It was just shaping up to be one of those days. Hajime sighed, wiping down the formerly bloodied area a few more times for good measure. The hydrogen peroxide he’d scrubbed it with bleached the off-white coloring, leaving a noticeable mark, but Hajime shrugged it off. Blood was a bitch to clean. Slipping off his gloves and flinging them in the trash with the dirty paper towel, Hajime turned away from the newly sanitized patch of deck and the screaming hordes in the pool. He strode over to the desk, grabbed his phone, and flopped into the shadiest spot with a _whump_. _All I need,_ Hajime thought, kicking his feet up and typing in his passcode, _all I need from this hellscape of a day is a little peace. No bleeding kids, no poolside messes — I deserve a nice, peaceful break. Right?_

“I-wai-zu-mi!”

“Fuck,” groaned Hajime.

He didn’t even have to turn around; he could feel the shit-eating grin the setter standing behind him was wearing, like another ray cast by the godforsaken sun, scorching his skin and bringing forth a fresh wave of irritation. Hajime counted to five, took deep breaths, and closed his eyes before returning to studying his phone, trying to quell the headache that was just getting worse and worse. _You just cleaned, do not get more blood on that ground. No blood. Do not._

But Hajime had the misfortune of being best friends with Oikawa Tooru and Oikawa’s favorite hobby was getting under Hajime’s skin.

“Naughty, Iwa-chan!” cooed Oikawa, sliding in front of the lifeguard desk and into Hajime’s peripheral vision. Hajime glanced up from his phone’s screen to glare at him. “Using such foul language in front of the children, I’m shocked!”

“Shut the hell up and put some sunscreen on that skin of yours before you burn,” snapped Hajime. He stabbed at his phone viciously, then finally sat up and gave Oikawa his full attention. The other boy looked way too chipper for five in the evening, and he was pretty as always — hair styled perfectly, swim trunks hugging his hips, skin flawless and clear. Hajime was torn between hating his sparkling appearance and the grudging admittance that his best friend was _cute_. “I have to be on stand in ten minutes, let me _rest_.”

“Aw, Iwa-chan cares about me so much!” Oikawa ignored the latter part of Hajime’s reply and reached across Hajime to grab the sunscreen inside the lifeguard desk. Hajime bit back his exasperated sigh and sat back with arms crossed, imagining all the ways he could maim his setter without drawing blood. It was one of those days, Hajime’s head felt like it would explode any second, and Oikawa was his usual stubborn, irritating self. He really didn’t have the patience for Oikawa’s antics today. He hadn’t anticipated _needing_ it today.

_Speaking of which…_ “I thought you weren’t coming back from the lake until tomorrow,” commented Hajime, looking at Oikawa inquisitively. He’d been at the lake with Oikawa before; Oikawa loved the thrill of cliff jumping and wakeboarding behind his uncle’s boat. Hajime usually had to drag the setter away by force. 

“Oh, that.” Oikawa flashed Hajime a blinding smile that might have verged on sheepish, had the setter had anything resembling that in his public arsenal. He reserved any admittance of weakness for when he was alone, or alone with Hajime. “Takeru wanted to come home early, so we did.”

Hajime blinked. “You left your favorite place early for…your nephew?” Weird as that was, the even weirder part was the twist in Hajime’s gut upon hearing that, like he was getting jealous over some seven year old _kid_. That would be an all time low. He shuddered at the thought, tried to shake it off, but it still stung. _Pull yourself together, c’mon, Hajime._

“I mean,” laughed the setter, running his fingers through his hair and then lifting up both hands to pet his head and make sure each strand was in place. Hajime rolled his eyes. “There was that. Plus, every time Daichi wake surfed Suga couldn’t tear his eyes from those thighs, and it was _so gross._ I had to get away.”

“You left your favorite place early because of your nephew and because you were third-wheeled?” Hajime deadpanned. “Now I’ve heard everything.”

Oikawa pouted. “And what if I said I came back early because I missed you, huh?”

“I’d say you were lying,” replied Hajime instantly. He glanced at the clock on his phone and stood up, stretching. “I have to go. Try not to burn, okay? God knows your pasty ass is toast in this sun.” He strode away to the chorus of, “Mean! Mean Iwa-chan!” that rang out behind him. Hajime couldn’t help but crack a grin at that.

After refilling his water bottle and tossing in a few extra ice cubes, Hajime walked over to the shallow end to relieve Kunimi, who he was pretty sure was about to fall asleep. His former underclassmen had joined Hajime at the country club pool’s guard staff because he thought lifeguarding was essentially sitting around in a chair all day. When he showed up for his first shift Hajime snapped at him every time he drifted off until the younger guard learned — it was six hours of never-ending chores and stress, with only an occasional day of sitting around all shift. “Look alive, Kunimi,” snorted Hajime, resting a hand on the younger guard’s shoulder and shaking him gently.

“Right,” mumbled Kunimi, rising slowly to meander toward the deep end. Hajime watched him a beat longer than necessary and made sure Kunimi caught him looking. He couldn’t have guards that weren’t alert; it was too dangerous. He needed everyone sharp as a tack, especially given the day’s track record.

Housekeeping taken care of, Hajime slid into the stand and counted the number of people in his zone. It was a good way to stay on task, keep his mind from wandering into the clouds, and to assess the situation. Hajime kicked himself for it after each slip-up, but even he found it difficult to focus sometimes, when each rotation between the stands was so repetitive and he felt like pounding his head against the back of his stand. But he was afternoon head guard now, so he more than anyone had to stay on target. _Three girls doing hand stands, a boy in floaties with a bucket, five kids playing gutterball…_ Hajime fell into a rhythm, scanning the shallow end methodically, keeping an eye out for trouble and every few minutes updating his count. The rotation passed quickly after that.

Between stands, Hajime glanced over to where Oikawa was camped out trying to tan, stifling a giggle when he saw how the setter’s skin had turned pink. “I told that idiot to be careful,” he murmured, smiling behind his hand.

As Hajime travelled between shallow, deep, slide, and desk, the day grew quieter, the incidents grew smaller, and Hajime’s grins became more frequent, to the point where even Kunimi commented on it. “Are you feeling all right? Your face is doing something weird,” he quipped at Hajime, whose grin didn’t flicker in the slightest when he flicked his snarky little kouhai on the forehead. 

“Get back to work!” he’d replied, and Kunimi just sighed and nodded.

Settling into the stand by the deep end, Hajime marveled at how the day had turned around ever since Oikawa showed up. Maybe it hadn't been so bad before, too, pondered Hajime. He balanced his water bottle on his knee and stretched his arms, reaching hard as he could toward an invisible point over his head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Oikawa looking his way, the setter winking and flexing when Hajime turned his face toward him. _Man, his face is super pink,_ thought Hajime, shaking his head and smiling fondly. The sun didn’t bother Hajime anymore; it was making its slow descent into the golf course behind Hajme and instead of blistering heat the rays he felt were warm and pleasant on the back of his neck. People gradually trickled out the pool gates, heading for home where a dinner table or a soft bed awaited. A handful of kids were splashing in the shallow end and another handful was standing in line to jump off the diving board a few more times before the pool closed. Soon they’d leave too, and then Hajime would be free. Free to go home, to chat with Oikawa, eat his meal and go to sleep, bringing the day to the blissful close it had been on the path towards ever since the last half of his shift.

_Maybe we’ll even get to close early,_ thought Hajime dreamily.

Not more than thirty seconds after thinking that, however, Hajime heard a sickening thwack from the rightmost diving board and his breath caught in his mouth.  
Hajime tore his eyes from the water, where he’d been watching a girl swim to the side, and whispered, “Fuck.” A kid was lying by the steps of the diving board, not crying, not moving… “ _Fuck_ ,” he swore again, and jumped out of the stand, walking as fast as he could across the water slick deck toward the fallen boy.

His mom and grandmother were already crowded around him, cradling his head in their lap. _Dumbasses,_ thought Hajime viciously, and he pushed through the people that were already gathering to see what the ruckus was all about. “Everyone back off, give the boy some space!” he barked, stepping behind the boy’s mother. “Ma’am, please let go of your son and let me look at him.” He knelt down and gently held the boy’s head between his forearms, steadying his grip to keep it still. Beside him, the boy’s mother clutched her chest and pelted her son with questions. 

“Sweetheart, what happened?! Do you hurt? Honey, are you all right?”

Hajime ignored her for the moment, focusing all his attention on the boy in front of him. He was breathing fine and his pulse was strong, so after a quick check of both Hajime moved on to the secondary assessment. “Where does it hurt?” he asked, trying to keep his voice kind and soothing, rather than showing just how panicked he really felt. “Can you feel your arms and legs?”

“My back hurts,” whimpered the boy.

Hajime’s stomach plummeted. “Can you feel your arms and legs?” he repeated. _What if it’s a serious head or spinal injury, what if I should’ve called EMS five minutes ago, fuck fuck fuck…_

The boy sniffed and wriggled his limbs. Hajime let out the breath he was holding and felt the whoosh of air leaving his lungs, the blood pounding in his ears relenting as the kid nodded slowly, still sniffling. “I can feel them. I can move them.”

Hajime still didn’t release his head for a few more minutes, asking a few more questions and confirming it was all right for the boy to sit up. At some point Oikawa had crept up behind him and now he stood at Hajime’s other side in solidarity. The other guards, god bless them, were split between crowd control, ushering people away from the scene by the diving boards, and securing the pool, making sure no zone remained unwatched. _Thank you,_ Hajime thought between asking the kid exactly what had happened and finding out exactly where his back hurt. _Thank you, thank you, thank you._ He was going to buy all of them fries when this was over. 

Finally Hajime stood up, helping the kid come to his feet and patting him gently on the shoulder. “Ma’am, your son is fine,” he pronounced, presenting the child to his mother. “He’ll probably have a nasty bruise but his bones are fine and I don’t think there’s any danger of a head or spinal injury. You don’t have any reason to worry.”

She didn’t look placated; instead, she pulled her son close again and rubbed his back and shoulders. “Are you positive? He made such a loud noise when he fell. Did you see exactly what happened?” _Oh shit,_ thought Hajime, and there was the kicker, the thing that had been eating up his insides this whole time — he hadn’t seen what had happened. He knew that the boy had fallen off the ladder to the diving board, he had heard the sound he’d made when he fell, but he hadn’t seen how the kid had landed. He hadn’t even seen him climbing the ladder in the first place. A troublemaking kid could have pushed him off — _had there been someone on the board already? He couldn’t remember, dammit_ — or the kid could have been doing something dangerous on the ladder like swinging or jumping around. In a roundabout way, in the simplest of terms, Hajime was at fault. He was responsible for making sure every kid in his area was safe, for preventing accidents like this one, but he’d let this slip by him and the consequences of that were serious. As serious as endangering the wellbeing of a child. 

Iwaizumi Hajime had fucked up.

“Not exactly,” Hajime admitted, gazing steadily into the mother’s face. He tried to straighten his back, own up to his admission, but he couldn’t help the way his shoulders clenched in the attempt. Oikawa, who was still standing behind him, must have seen it because he stepped forward so his shoulder was brushing Hajime’s. “I was watching the kids in the pool and I missed your son slipping.” His cheeks were heated, his muscles tense, but he made himself stare back into the mother’s eyes. _This is what happens when you get complacent,_ he reminded himself, squaring his shoulders. _You get sloppy and you make mistakes. What kind of head guard are you? What kind of_ lifeguard _are you?_

The mom’s eye twitched. “So you didn’t see him fall? But you at least heard it, right? Wasn’t that sound troubling?”

“It was.” Hajime gritted his teeth. This mother was relentless. It was touching, he supposed, to see how much he cared for her son, but couldn’t she just accept he was all right? The more she spoke, the more it felt that she was rubbing in what Hajime already knew — that he should have been aware of everything going on in his area. _Leave me,_ he silently begged, _leave me to go sit on stand and live with my guilt. Leave me and spare me these questions and looks that I honestly probably deserve._

Oikawa’s voice cut through the air. “He said the kid was fine, though. Right?”

Hajime glanced over at Oikawa, eyebrows raised in surprise, only to see Oikawa wearing a chilly expression, the one that meant he was ready to crush whatever opponent stood in his way. And apparently now his opponent was…that kid’s mom. _Oikawa, what are you doing?_ groaned Hajime. He smacked the setter on the back hard, angling his arm so the mom couldn’t see (although she surely heard it), but Oikawa didn’t move a muscle. _Goddamn him._

The boy’s mother turned to face Oikawa and her eyes widened, mouth dropping open while she blinked rapidly. The setter smirked – oh, he knew exactly the kind of impression he was giving off and even Hajime might have been a bit impressed with how imposing he looked, standing up tall with his singed skin and pink swim shorts, if he wasn’t so ready to kill him. The mother stared a second longer and then shook herself, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring back at Oikawa. “He did, but…”

“And of the two of you, which is a trained professional?” The smile Oikawa gave after that was positively saccharine and it contrasted sharply with the ice in his eyes. The mother took a step back, her brow furrowing even deeper. Oikawa put a hand on his hip, opened his mouth to continue, but Hajime had had enough.

“I am so sorry about him, ma’am,” he told the mother, yanking Oikawa back by his swim trunks so he stumbled and yelped. “He doesn’t know what manners are. I promise your son is fine. I looked at his back very thoroughly and the worst he’ll see is a bruise. Just let him rest and I’m sure he’ll feel better in no time at all.” Hajime grimaced and then inclined his head toward the kid’s mom, who looked like she wasn’t finished talking but also didn’t know how to proceed from here. “If you’ll excuse me…”

With a viselike grip on Oikawa’s arm, Hajime dragged him to the side, past the rows of lawn chairs, the parents packing up their towels, and the other guards that were still buzzing about everything that had happened. _Did you see Oikawa? Oh man, Iwaizumi’s face looks sc-a-ry!_ Hajime ignored them all, not stopping until he reached the men’s bathroom and even then not letting go of Oikawa’s arm. The one kid in the bathroom took one look at the two of them and scuttled out, shutting the door just as Hajime slammed his free fist onto the counter. When his hand connected with the dirty blue tile it made a thunderous smack that echoed through the bathroom, causing Oikawa to flinch, but Hajime barely noticed that, just like he barely noticed the smell of Lysol or the stray gnats that had wandered in to bump into his arms and face. He barely noticed much at all, honestly, beyond how pissed he was at himself for messing up and at Oikawa for _making it worse._

“What the fuck,” Hajime growled, “were you _doing_?”

He didn’t look at the setter directly, wasn’t sure if it was safe to just then, but he could see his face in the bathroom mirror and the way his smile faltered as he struggled to put it back in place. “She was making you upset,” replied Oikawa, his voice tiny. “And I wanted her to stop.”

“But you were rude.” Hajime loosened his hold on Oikawa’s arm and slid his hand downward until he found the setter’s hand. His palm felt cool and Hajime finally turned to Oikawa, looking up at his face only to find his gaze cast toward the ground and his expression downcast. _Oh shit,_ thought Hajime frantically, for the second time that day, _no, no, I fucked up, I fucked up—_

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa murmured. 

Hajime swallowed. He faced the setter fully, grabbed Oikawa’s other hand, and pulled him forward gently until the taller boy looked back up. He looked so vulnerable, thought Hajime, and he knew Oikawa was one of the toughest people he’d ever met but he forgot sometimes how he was soft too, and how easy it could be to bring his insecurities to the surface, with just a few poorly chosen words and a glare that was harsher than necessary. “It’s fine,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled.”

Oikawa squeezed Hajime’s hands. “I could see you blaming yourself back there,” he murmured. He turned Hajime’s palm upwards, using his thumb to rub across the surface. “You do that a lot. In volleyball, too. But Iwa—Hajime, you always do your best, no matter what you do. You’ve got nothing to be guilty about.”

Hajime stared at Oikawa. The setter looked dead certain, staring back at Hajime without any embarrassment, seemingly determined to convince him that he had done enough back there, that there was nothing else he could have done. _God,_ thought Hajime dizzily, _he cares so much_ , and there was a fluttering in his chest that felt like it was a long time coming. For a second, Hajime forgot how to breath, but once the memory came back to him he started to laugh, pulling one of his hands out of Oikawa’s to cover his mouth as the snorts cascaded out. “Oh my god,” mumbled Hajime between laughs. “If we’re using first names now, I must have looked really pathetic.” He laughed even harder at Oikawa’s bleating and raised his arm to wipe at his eyes as Oikawa insisted _no, you looked very cool_ — thankfully the laughter had come just in time to hide how Hajime was tearing up. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for Oikawa to see that, no matter how amusing the setter would surely find it.

“Thank you, Oikawa,” wheezed Hajime once he had laughed himself out. “Sorry, you just surprise me every time you say something intelligent. I guess I needed a reminder that I can’t catch every accident.” Still, he thought to himself soberly, it was a good wake-up call. There were plenty of things he could fix about how he handled kids on the board and he planned to make changes as soon as possible. But that was something he could worry about tomorrow.

Oikawa was beaming. He tossed his head, declaring, “Iwa-chan, what are you talking about, every word out of my mouth is a piece of good advice.” He looked happy with how Hajime was reacting and Hajime couldn’t say he was unhappy with the outcome himself.

“You were still rude to that mom out there,” he told Oikawa, although his words had lost most of their bite after laughing his guts out. “Seriously, go and apologize to her, and never do that again.” Oikawa rolled his eyes but nodded and shot Hajime a sheepish smile. 

“C’mon, let’s leave the bathroom,” he said softly, and Hajime followed him out the door, feeling better than he had all day.

Oikawa caught the boy’s mother just as she was about to walk out the gate and a lot of scraping and bowing followed, Oikawa turning up the charm as far as he possibly could. Hajime was pretty sure that by the time the lady left she was walking on air. The sun had set and the only light illuminating the pool came from the flash of an occasional headlight and the lamps that lined the pool area’s fence. Now that almost everyone was gone, the guards could start working on the closing duties — picking up toys, measuring the chemicals, putting the vacuum in, taking out the trash. Hajime whistled as he tied up the last garbage bag, hoisting it over his knee and not even complaining with it started dripping on him halfway towards the dumpster. The rest of the evening had passed without major incident and his heart and head felt light because of it. Tonight he’d had enough excitement to last him all summer.

When all the chores were done and every last guard had clocked out, there was only one patron left and he was standing with one hand resting on the gate, the other on his hip. Waiting for Hajime. Grinning, the head guard quickened his pace.

Oikawa opened the gate wide for him and stepped into place beside him after Hajime passed through. “Daichi and Suga are probably coming back off the lake by now,” the setter commented as the two of them walked across the parking lot towards their cars. Oikawa had parked beside him, Hajime noticed. “They might even be packing to leave tomorrow.” 

“Probably,” agreed Hajime. “Hey, you still never said exactly why you’re back early.”

“Didn’t I?” asked Oikawa airily. “I told you, I missed your face too much. The lake wasn’t the same without you.”

“That’s not really the reason,” laughed Hajime, although his face flushed at the words. _Thank god it’s dark out._ He reached into his pocket for his keys and twirled them around his index finger. “C’mon, Lyingkawa, why’d you do it?”

“I’m not lying,” said Oikawa, and Hajime looked over at him quickly because his voice had sounded a bit strangled and _wow, he was really pink_. _There is no way he burned that much,_ thought Hajime. His pulse thrummed under his skin and his face was on fire and he couldn’t tear his gaze from Oikawa, because his reaction was unexpected and everything was hanging on those next words…

“I’m not lying,” the setter repeated, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. _Cute,_ thought Hajime. _He’s so cute._ “I came back early to see you! And I wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to do something tomorrow, like, uh, I don’t know, go bowling, o-or hiking, or to the playground…” 

“Oikawa.” The setter jumped and Hajime leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “It’s a date,” he said, smiling against Oikawa’s cheek, and then he opened his car door and slid inside, turning on his headlights to see Oikawa sputtering and touching his hand to his cheek in shock. _What a nerd._

From the moment he backed out of the parking to when he pulled into his driveway and killed the engine, Hajime didn’t stop smiling.


End file.
